Within the past few years many states within the Union have turned to state lotteries in order to raise needed operating monies. In line with the same trend, many merchants have also started similar games in which the customer scrapes a card to reveal a prize such as a free hamburger or a coupon good for a reduced price item. The drawback with these simple game cards is the mess caused by scraping the opaque covering from the card. Generally the opaque covering is scraped off by a coin, a fingernail, or any convenient scraping device. The removed scrapings, can and will fall onto the customer's clothing, the retail counter where the ticket is sold, or any place where the customer decides to scrape the card. The scraping material will melt and stain clothing, counter tops, car seats, etc. In the case where the customer uses the fingernail the covering material is caught under the fingernail and will be transferred to anything the customer touches. In other words the environment suffers whenever the game card is played.
Another problem suffered while using these games cards is inadvertent destruction of the printed numbers or symbols, hidden under the opaque covering, when the customer scrapes the covering away. It is known that these cards cause great excitement in the customer, which is one reason why they sell so well, and the customer can obliterate the hidden message. If the message is obliterated, the state or merchant cannot or will not pay as they cannot identify the winning number or symbols.
The first object of the invention is to provide a simple storage means for the removed scrapings so that they can be properly disposed of and will not harm the environment. The second object of this invention is to provide a simple device which will safely scrape off the opaque covering, assuring that the game card will not be damaged. That is, printed numbers or symbols appearing on the card will not be obliterated by the scrapping process.